030459 KU Law of the World Trade Organization (2018S)

This course examines the institutions and law of the World Trade Organization. As a lynchpin of the global economic system, the WTO is a key institution in international law: Its rules impact on a wide range of areas, from industrial strategy to health policy, and can be enforced though a comparatively effective dispute settlement system. This course encourages critical analysis of these rules and how they function in their legal and political context.

During the course students will be introduced to: the WTO’s decision-making and dispute settlement systems; the core obligations of WTO law relating to both tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade; the regulation of technical barriers to trade and measures designed to protect human, animal, or plant life; the regulation of subsidies; the use of trade defence instruments; and the place of WTO law within the international legal order, identifying its relationship with human rights, public health, and the environment.

This course is delivered through mixed sessions: a combination of lectures and group exercises where practical and theoretical challenges are discussed and debated in class.